Kent Farrington & Gazelle. ph: © Jessica Rodrigues
On the final day of competition at the Jumping International of Valence horse show, USA’s Kent Farrington and the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare Gazelle (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Indoctro) won the Grand Prix of Valence CSI5* with a leading jump-off time of 35.32s.
On Sunday, August 20, 2017, Italy’s Uliano Vezzani designed the 13-obstacle-course for the feature presentation of the four day competition. 45 horse and rider combinations took to the 1.60m track with the hopes of securing the lump sum of the €300,000 purse. Only 11 made it to the jump-off, with Farrington securing the victory with the fastest of the clear rounds.
It’s been a successful few months of competition for the FEI World #1 ranked rider and the 11-year-old Gazelle. On July 20, 2017, the duo helped Team USA secure a tied, 2nd place finish in the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup at CHIO Aachen. And, for the second time in two years, they were victorious in the ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup Grand Prix at the Spruce Meadows show grounds in Alberta, Canada on July 8.
For a 2nd place finish, Ireland’s Shane Breen and the 10-year-old Hanoverian stallion Laith (Lord Z x Weinberg) finished with a time of 36.40s. A day prior, Breen piloted the 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion Ipswich van de Wolfsakker (Carembar de Muze x Quick Star) to a 1st place finish in the Prix Axeria CSI5*.
Canada’s Eric Lamaze and the 12-year-old Rhenish Warmblood stallion Coco Bongo (Caretino x Calido) finished in 3rd with a time of 37.01s.
The full results can be viewed here.